MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM IN THIS BREACH OF CONTRACT ACTION, BASED UPON DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE, SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Manzanet-Daniels, reversing Supreme Court, determined the motion to dismiss based on documentary evidence should not have been granted in this breach of contract action. Plaintiff and defendant had entered a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) in which plaintiff agreed to purchase defendant, Symbio, for between $100 and $110 million. The opinion is fact specific and cannot be fairly summarized here:
Plaintiff’s claims are not definitively contradicted by the documentary evidence. The record (to the extent there is one on this motion pursuant to CPLR 3211) demonstrates the existence of issues of fact concerning when plaintiff determined that there was a matter that might give rise to a right of indemnification so that it was required to give notice pursuant to section 8.03(a) of the parties’ contract. …
Further, defendants’ defense of a condition precedent is not conclusively established. Even if section 8.03(a) might be construed as a condition precedent (which is highly doubtful), there has been no showing regarding the materiality of the provision as would be necessary given that nonoccurrence of the condition would lead to a draconian forfeiture. XI Lux Holdco S.A.R.L. v SIC Holdings, LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 02437, First Dept 3-28-19